A very significant contributing factor to Nicholas' downfall was the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-05. Russia and Japan went to war over control of Manchuria and Korea. Russia was alleged to have a quick and decisive victory over Japan. However the war did not go to plan and Russia was defeated. Japan destroyed Russia's army in May 1905 at Tsushima later in September 1905 Russia accepted Japan's treaty. The Japanese then had control of Korea and most of Manchuria. This made the Russian government and especially Nicholas very unpopular and although it could be said that it was not directly Nicholas' fault that the Russian armies were defeated this did contribute greatly to his downfall.

put a seal on the matter."[2][2] However, "the new reign opened with a blaze of hope."[3][3] Many were optimistic about the new power in Russia. As a child, Alexander had been given a very liberal education. His main tutor had been V.A. Zhukovsky, poet, humanist and friend of Pushkin. Zhukovsky's teachings were said to have "exercised a liberal influence over his young pupil until manhood"[4][4]. Alexander's tutors were said to be, in general, "more enlightened and imaginative than the mood of the times"[5][5].

Poor livelihood, no franchise of general Russians and the insult of Russo-Japanese War all these were reasons to cause the 1905 Revolution. The Bloody Sunday Incident was an immediately cause to lead the outbreak of 1905 Revo lution. After the 1905 Revolution, the Czar still had to face the above problems. IN order to prolong his rule, he was forced to reform Russia. At first, he agreed to set up parliament, Duma. It made Russia became a constitution country like Britain.

This was called collectivisation. The Five-Year Plans were originally drawn up by the GOSPLAN, the state planning organisation that Lenin set up in 1921. They set ambitious targets for production in the vital heavy industries (coal, iron, oil, electricity). The plans were very complicated but they were set out in such a good way that by 1929 every worker knew what he or she had to achieve: GOSPLAN set overall targets for an industry, each region was told its targets, the region set targets for each mine, factory etc , the manager of each mine, factory etc set targets for each foreman, the foreman set targets for each shift and even for individual workers est.

Source B is a lot more reliable than Source A as it agrees with what we know as the truth. It talks about the soldiers going on strike, which is true because they refused to fire upon the demonstrators who were most likely their friends and neighbours, as most of the soldiers were peasants. It also agrees with the timescale as the soldiers went on strike the day before. Source B also shows us four phrases, which the demonstrators were supposedly shouting out, these were: 'Land and Freedom' 'Down with the Dynasty' 'Down with the Romanovs' 'Down with the Officers' This would be true as these four things were what the peasants wanted.

Bolshevik was not communist due to the Laws that were changed, and the way that the country changed. Because the of War Communism, people became pushed aside again. Grain requisitioning, this is when the Bolshevik were sending units of the Red guard into the country side to find grain for the hard-pressed cities. The banning of private, All private trade were banned, but the state trading was very chaotic and was not producing enough products, so the black market started in

They could get loans from the government. However most of the peasants had to pay these loans off over a long period of time. As a result most of the peasants got into heavy debt. This was made worse by the fact that after 1861 the landowners had large estates. Many of the peasants were forced to work on the estates of nobles so they could earn extra money. However more and more people were becoming peasants as the population of Russia increased by 50% between 1860 and 1897 with more and more peasants competing with each other for the little amount of land available making lots of the peasants dissatisfied with the government.

In the second revolution, during October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a Bolshevik (communist) government. One reason that lead up to the deposition of the Tsar was the lack of food and fuel in Russia at the time. There was simply not enough to go around, people were becoming desperate and would do anything for food and resources. There was also terrible inequality in Russia, the peasants were treated like work animals.

It also made many of the Russian people join the anti-Bolshevik party in protest. During the civil war, war communism was introduced. The whole idea of freedom was about to change as: all large factories were taken over by the government, discipline for workers was strict and strikers could be shot, peasants had to hand over surplus food to the government and food was rationed. This all had a harsh but true effect of the people as the little food they were already making was being taken just as quickly.

He also appeared as chief mourner at Lenin's funeral while tricking Trotsky into missing it. Stalin made a big speech praising Lenin and said he was Lenin's disciple. The leading Communists decided not to publish Lenin's will as it contained criticisms of them as well as of Stalin. Therefore this was a big relief for Stalin as it could have damaged his chances of becoming sole ruler. Although Trotsky did make himself unpopular, his ideas for spreading world revolution alarmed moderate Communists.

By 1914 Russia had progressed no further than Britain had in 1750, industrially, and for every one Russian factory in 1914 there were one hundred and fifty in Britain. The Russian people did not have the technology to move forward and were certainly the most industrially backward throughout this wartime period. There were many underlying tensions which stemmed back before 1914, such as the secret formation of the Bolsheviks and the obvious segregation of certain classes within Russia. As a result of this there were two major revolutions in 1917.

Marx claimed that eventually, the proletariat would revolt, overthrow capitalism and replace it with socialism. During this stage a Dictatorship of the proletariat would be necessary to rule on behalf of the workers. Eventually, a system called communism would emerge where the people owned the means of production, profit and power were shared equally, and all people would belong to one class and be equal. Eventually, no government would be necessary and everyone would live in communes. Marx's theory of communism was very influential to Lenin and Bolshevik's as it provided a vision of a much fairer society and the hope of improving the lives of their fellow countrymen and women.

commenting that the Bolsheviks, including Stalin, "had been willing to work with the other reformist parties". Lenin was prepared to make a stand, as is shown in a letter sent by him to the Petrograd and Moscow committees of the Bolshevik party in September of 1917, detailing one of his main reasons as; Bolsheviks "can and must take power into their own hands". Trotsky later commented that if neither Lenin nor he had been present, "there would have been no October revolution". These sources demonstrate that Lenin was prepared to overthrow the democratic assembly to gain power.

On the other hand, the Soviets were creating problems for the Provisional Government, as they wanted to take control. Firstly, there was the First World War. Russia was loosing badly and the public was demanding the government to pull out of the war. There were lack of resources in major cities, lack of workers and soldiers were dying by millions every week. Many people believe that the provisional government didn't have the power to pull Russia out of the war.

Lenin excelled at school and went on to study law. At university, he was exposed to radical thinking, and his views were also influenced by the execution of his elder brother, a member of a revolutionary group. Lenin was exiled to Siberia for his radical policies. Lenin spent most of his time in Western Europe, where he emerged as the leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party. The Bolsheviks were a revolutionary party, committed to the ideas of Karl Marx.

Anyone who knew what Stalin was up to would be killed; he was paranoid and didn't trust anyone. This is important in creating the Soviet Union because many people feared him and were terrified under his rule; this meant they would do anything for Stalin. Overall, I believe that Lenin was more in important in creating the Soviet Union as overpowering the constituent assembly sent out a clear message that there was no room for opposition. In a way Stalin and Lenin were quite similar as they would both do anything to get their opponents out the way (Lenin with

there must be a certain amount of freedom to trade, freedom for the small private owner". The NEP effectively brought back capitalism for some parts of Russian society. Lenin made it very clear that NEP was temporary, but nevertheless, some Bolsheviks saw NEP as a betrayal of communism. Under NEP, the economy grew and production increased, however working conditions did not, in 1925 the Soviet Commissar for finance admitted that "pay for miners was lower than it was in 1914". It should also be remembered that NEP would not have been needed had it not been for the terrible failures of War Communism, and that by 1923 production levels were only as high as they had been in 1913 under the Tsar.

The people had got a parliament, but it wasn't going to improve their lives at all. This was a carrot, but a rotten one, as it seemed good, but wasn't all it was cut out to be. Stolypin changed a number of things. His first change was a stick, in the form of military courts. These courts could sentence and hang a person on the spot, no questions asked. And if the dead were found not guilty, the grieving family would get an apology, and if they were lucky, a small amount of compensation.

The way they live is a huge consequence to why they live for such a short period of time. The living conditions are dreadful because of the lack of hygiene as they cannot afford to live in nice houses. Also the amount of people living in each room is far too many it is very cramped. They are living in poverty. Their houses are cramped and they lack insulation making the peasants prone to diseases like pneumonia. They cannot afford a living because as you know Russia is fairly unsuitable for faming therefore there is simply not enough land to go around as four fifths of Russia are peasant and between them they only have three quarters of the land to share.

In the October Manifesto, issued by Nicholas II on 17 October 1905, the establishment of a Duma was granted. The Duma was the Russian parliament which existed from 1906 to 1917 and was dismissed four times. The first Duma was active from April to July 1906 and the second, February to June 1907; these Dumas were dominated by radical deputies with demands which were considered too extreme. They demanded universal and free education, greater equality of all citizens before the law and major land reforms.

This petition asked for their selves and all other Russians in their situation to be granted basic human rights and given the right to elect their own leader to represent them politically. This march resulted in approximately 200 marchers' deaths and the wounding of 800 others.

o He set the GOSPLAN: target for production in the vital heavy industry: COAL, IRON, OIL, ELECTRICITY. Each region was told its targets, then each mine, factory, etc, then each manager, then each foreman, then each individual worker. By 1929 every worker knew what he or she had to achieve. o Peasants were to put their lands together to form large join farms ( kolkhoz) but could keep small spots for personal use. o Animals and tools were to be pooled together. o Motor Tractor Stations (MTS) , provided by the government, made tractors available. o Ninety per cent of Kolkhoz produce would be sold to the state and the profits shared out.

2. the war should end immediately 3. the land should be given to the peasants 4. the soviets should take power * These points were later called April theses. * Lenin argues that there should be a second revolution- a socialist revolution- in which the workers should take power. * Many Bolsheviks were surprised, which led to some not taking him seriously. * The soviets Party turned Lenin's ideas into the slogans 'Bread, peace, land' and 'all power to the soviets.' This was what the people had wanted to hear. Support for the Bolsheviks began to grow, although they were outnumbered by the soviets by other socialists.

Marx's idea was that there would be two revolutions. The first would be the middle-class taking control from the monarchy and aristocracy. The second revolution would be the proletariats taking control from the middle-class. Then a temporary government structure would oversee the Communism settle into society. There were other causes which led to the second Bolshevik revolution, Marxism was the final consequence of a rulers system riddled with faults. The Provisional Government in February 1917 promised elections which were to be held in December of the same year. To many starving Russians, 10 months isn't even a foreseeable future, let alone would they even have the care to think about the provisional government while they had to concentrate on surviving.

the army would speak Russian but the villagers couldn't, and it would be hard to find someone who spoke that certain language in an army of millions. Russia stretches through Europe and Asia. Russia has a total of 11 time zones. Just imagine how long it would take to send an army from one side of the country to another. Also if food was being delivered from opposite side of Russia some would have already been spoiled by the time it got to its destination point.

Conclusion analysis

Good conclusions usually refer back to the question or title and address it directly - for example by using key words from the title.
How well do you think these conclusions address the title or question? Answering these questions should help you find out.

Do they use key words from the title or question?

Do they answer the question directly?

Can you work out the question or title just by reading the conclusion?

"In conclusion, no socialist revolutionary faithfully followed the communist manifesto and Marx's ideology because it is almost impossible to implement an ideology written half a century ago under totally different conditions and a totally different situation. Every revolutionary had a their own adaptation of Marxism, this is evident with all the varying 'isms' developed out of Marxism like Trotskyism, Leninism, Stalinism and Maoism."

"Stalin's right hand man Khrushchev backs the argument of collectivisation as a failure. Khrushchev states: 'Stalin's brand of collectivisation brought nothing but brutality and misery'. This source is a quote from Khrushchev after Stalin's death. This is a source of good utility and reliability as it is said by Khrushchev after Stalin's death when he was in power so he could say what he wanted to, secondly Khrushchev was Stalin's right hand man so he was present around the time of collectivisation and would probably have know as much as Stalin. This source has a good level of validity because it is on collectivisation and what Khrushchev believed it achieved. It is trustworthy as it is a direct quote from Khrushchev himself. The motives of this source can be slightly questioned. As it is post Stalin, when Khrushchev encouraged openness on Stalin, plus he criticised and distanced himself from him. So it might have been said by Khrushchev to enhance his popularity and show him as less of a tyrant than Stalin was. This source shows a view of collectivisation agreed on by a great many people in the Soviet Union and it is also the view of historians.
Figures do not support any success in collectivisation theses figures taken from a history learning site from the UK:"

"In conclusion, when Alexander II came to the throne in 1855 he faced many problems, the most drastic I think was the existing serfdom system. Alexander decided to resolve these problems b introducing new reforms, the most famous and most needed in my opinion is the abolishment of serfdom. But as actual abolishment was after 1855, Russia's serfdom community was still very much alive consequently was still a huge weakness, and illustrated their backwardness in 1855. So overall after weighing up the strengths and weakness of Russia at that time, I would definitely consider there to be more weakness in the Russian empire. I do acknowledge that Alexander II employed some key reforms; however Russia remained 50 - 100 years behind the west in sheer development of the country in 1855."